Essay --

Gratitude: A Behavior Modification Intervention for Worry. Gratitude is one of the positive emotions shown from research and clinical trials to enhance the general well being of human beings. Gratitude is defined by Emmons (2004) as â€Å"a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift be a tangible benefit from a specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty. Emmons and McCullough also see gratitude as an attitude, a habit, a personality trait and a way of handling difficult situations response (Emmons & Stern, 2013). Its practice has been seen to be efficacious in healing and improving the quality of life of many people. Whether in terms of enhancing mental health or preventing illness, gratitude is one of life’s vitalizing ingredients. Clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting positive effects on a person’s life. It can lower blood pressure, improve immune function, promote happiness and well being, and spur acts of helpfulness, generosity and cooperation (Emmons & Stern, 2013). Emmons and Stern (2013) from their experiments, assert that gratitude has one of the strongest links to mental health and life satisfaction in any personality trait, more so than even optimism hope or compassion. They maintain that people who experience gratitude can cope more effectively with everyday stress, show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress, recover more quickly from illness, and enjoy more robust physical health. There are numerous research on the effectiveness of gratitude as a therapeutic intervention for many problems As mentioned earlier, it is seen to work in any personality depression anxiety (worry), trauma and soo... ...cipant is closely associated with changes in his life, it is important to investigate whether his self-worry is as a result of the adjustments and changes that took place in his life because of school. The progress made through this intervention has to be watched to see if it is temporary or something that will perdure with continues practice of gratitude contemplation and recording. Nevertheless, the intervention helped the participant in decreasing his self-worry. It is the opinion of the researcher that even though, gratitude intervention is successful in his case and other trials carried out by renowned scholars like, Emmons & McCullough, (2003), Emmons & Stein, (2013), Seligman et al (2005) Watsin et al (2003), Matsuba, (2011), more studies should be done to determine the effectiveness of this intervention, the population and cases where it is most effective.